Once I saw this character:
He has incredibly beautiful and expressive lenses! And what forms of a respirator! Oh! Mona Lisa's smile is nothing compared to the grin of this mask! I wanted to get something similar and started acting!
Therefore, one fine day I received this wonderful black specimen.
And why not paint the metal parts and make the gas mask completely black? But how to do that? It would be very problematic to stick all the rubber around with masking tape. Therefore, for the implementation of the painting, it was decided to remove all metal parts from the rubber mask.
It would also be nice to tint the lenses. In this matter, a film for tinting the headlights of a car came to my aid.
Attention: When choosing a tint film, pay attention to how well it will be visible through it. It was by this principle that I chose the film.
Going to the car market, I snatched a very beautiful piece of film of the color “chameleon”, it shimmers from red and purple to yellow and green. Also bought there a spray can of paint. The choice fell on matte black. For light gas masks, I would recommend a golden color.
I’ll write about all my expenses for making this miracle at the end of the article.
First stage. Disassembly.
First of all, we wash the gas mask from talcum powder and dry it. Then we disassemble the membrane box (intercom).
Now with a thin metal object we bend the rings holding the glass of the gas mask, then remove them.
We take out the glass:
Similarly, we take out the valve box. This can be noticeably more difficult, because it is partially glued to a rubber mask.
As a result, we got such a horror:
The base of the membrane box didn’t really want to be removed and had to be left. Otherwise, I could not have returned it to its place. But this will not affect the appearance of the product in the future.I just painted the inner grill with a black marker, although it is already poorly visible.
Second phase. Painting.
We will paint all these details:
We degrease them by cooking and / or wipe with acetone:
At the valve box, seal the valves and small holes with masking tape:
We go out into the nature or in a well-ventilated room and paint in three layers with drying breaks. Almost all parts need to be painted on only one side. We paint the valve box especially carefully, before the last layer we remove the masking tape covering small holes on the inspiration valve.
The third stage. Glass tinting.
There’s nothing complicated: we circle our glasses with a marker, cut them out along the line, clean the glasses themselves to a shine and gently glue the film.
The color is simply amazing and unimaginable!
The fourth stage. Assembly.
We insert the glass into place. This can be very difficult, be careful and do not let the film come off. Then we clamp the rings holding the glass. This can be done with bare hands.
Inserting the valve box into place will be quite difficult. Make sure that the valve box is in place INSIDE the gas mask. After that, we also put on and clamp the ring.
We assemble the membrane box:
Now everything is ready!
Total.
How it all looked from the beginning:
I will give a couple of photos of the finished work:
Now the gas mask is fully assembled and ready for use. In it you will look just amazing! Still would! There are no more wrinkles, the face acquired a beautiful black tan, and the eyes became huge and expressive. No plastic surgeon can do that!
It took me exactly one day to do all the work. All materials spent: ₽ 380
Gas mask - 150 ₽ (you can find it for free, but I just wanted this model)
Film for tinting - 50 ₽ (there is still a lot of it)
Spray paint - 180 ₽ (there is also a lot left)
The gas mask began to look more military. Visibility inside the gas mask is not severely affected. I am very pleased with the result of the work done. In general, I thought about how to bring this to life for three whole years, but still I found the necessary solutions and materials.
And you can experiment with the colors of parts and lenses. Finally, I would like to wish you good luck in all your endeavors. Go to your goal no matter what!